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  • Amimon Raises $10 Million on Back of Strong WHDI Performance


    Wireless HD chipmaker Amimon has raised USD $10 million in its latest round of funding.

    The Israeli company’s announcement as demand for HDTVs capable of wirelessly transferring HD video from one device in the home continues to grow.

    Led by Stata Venture Partners the funding round also includes previous backers Argonaut Private Equity, Cedar Fund, Evergreen Venture Partners, Walden Israel and Motorola Ventures.

    The company said it has developed six different chips to date with its prior funding, including a new chip based on the WHDI (Wireless Home Digital Interface) standard.

    Its first-generation product is performing well, both in consumer electronics devices and in medical imaging equipment.

    Customers include Sony, Sharp, Mitsubishi, Gefen, Belkin, Stryker (medical devices), IDX (Pro AV video cameras), Philips, and Hinsense.

    The second-generation WHDI chip set improves on the first in that it can transfer full HD video – defined as video in the 1080p format running at 60 frames per second.

    The previous chip set could only do 1080i video at slower speeds.

    The new chip set is compliant with the Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) industry standard and is expected to ship in customer products in 2010.

    Rival SiBEAM uses a different technology, based on the 60-gigahertz band of the radio spectrum, with higher speeds but shorter ranges.

    Yoav Nissan-Cohen, chairman and CEO of AMIMON, said the company is experiencing "strong acceptance" of the newly introduced 1080p/60Hz chipset.

    "The additional funding will allow Amimon to seize this opportunity to solidify our leadership position," he said.

    "We will use this round of funding to enhance production and expand our worldwide operations to meet growing global demand for our technology in the consumer electronics market as well as the medical and professional video markets."

  • CAST Releases H.264 IP Core for HD Video Compression


    Silicon Intellectual Property (IP) provider CAST has launched a new H.264 encoder core intended for applications that require the transmission of the highest quality video over low bit-rate channels.

    The company claims that the CAST H264-E Encoder Core delivers some of the best looking compressed video available.

    Possible uses include remote medical diagnostics, military targeting, satellite reconnaissance and advanced surveillance systems.

    The core offers this quality for screen sizes from handheld (CIF, 352 x 240 pixels) to full HD (1080p30, 1920 x 1080 at 30 frames per second).

    It fully supports the Baseline Profile, Level 4.1, of the H.264 specification (MPEG-4 Part 10, also known as MPEG-4 AVC, Advanced Video Coding).

    The company said that every design decision in the CAST H264-E development process was made in favor of improving video quality.

    "This uncompromising approach led to excellent output and nearly constant-quality video for even the most demanding compression challenges: high-motion scenes, quick camera panning, rapid scene changes, artificial motion, and frequent zooming," according to a CAST statement.

    "Achieving this video quality with just Baseline Profile support means the CAST H264-E generally requires fewer resources—processing time, chip area, and power consumption—than competing cores that support higher-level profiles."

    The H264-E Encoder Core was developed by long-time CAST partner Alma Technologies in Greece.

    The core is available now, in RTL source code for ASICs or optimized netlists for programmable devices.

  • ASUS Enters HDTV Monitor Market


    ASUS has announced a range of HDTV monitors that it says offers the best in desktop monitor and LCD TV technology.

    The TV Monitor T1 Series comes in 22- (22T1E), 24- (24T1E) and 27-inch (27T1E) sizes and offers a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) panel, a 20,000:1 contrast ratio, 300 nits of brightness, five millisecond response time, built-in TV tuners (for the UK market) and a pair of seven-watt speakers.

    The monitors come with VGA, HDMI (x2), component, composite, S-Video and a 3.5 millimeter headphone jack.

    There is no detail on pricing yet.

  • iPhone App Downloads Pass 1.5 Billion


    Apple’s App Store has hit the 1.5 billion download mark just a few days after celebrating its first anniversary.

    iTunes now has more than 65,000 apps available in 77 countries, with over 100,000 developers registered with the iPhone Developer Program.

    Steve Jobs, who appears to be back at work, said in a press release: "With 1.5 billion apps downloaded, it is going to be very hard for others to catch up."

    There was no indication from Apple on what percentage of the downloaded apps were free and what percentage were paid for.

    Apple has now shipped over 40 million iPhones and iPod touches.

  • RIM Launches MyBlackberry Forum


    RIM has launched a RIM-operated community forum for BlackBerry users.

    MyBlackBerry is akin to a bulletin board and is intended as a place were any BlackBerry users can share tips, stories, review apps and discuss their handsets.

    RIM has said that it will keep tabs on what goes on with the intention of learning what’s working and what’s not for Blackberry users.

    This is undoubtedly a good idea – not least because BlackBerry’s App World store has not enjoyed the success of Apple’s App Store.

    With the aid of feedback from MyBlackberry, perhaps the Canadian company will be able to rectify complaints such as the store being hard to navigate and confusion over apps.

    It might be an idea that Apple could adopt since there are plenty of iPhone users that would be willing to talk about their apps.

  • Toshiba Integrates VoIP System With Microsoft OCS RCC


    Toshiba’s telecommunication division has announced integration of Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 Remote Call Control (RCC) capabilities with its Toshiba Strata CIX family of VoIP business communication systems.

    Brian Metherell, vice president and general manager of Toshiba America Information Systems, Telecommunication Systems Division, said that with the integration, enterprise users of Toshiba’s Strata CIX family of VoIP business communication systems can Click-to-Dial from Microsoft OCS 2007 using a Toshiba Strata telephone device.

    He said it is compatible with Toshiba’s most popular IP and digital telephones as well as Toshiba’s SoftIPT softphone.

    Users also gain telephony status information for other callers on the Strata CIX system, viewable from their Microsoft OCS Enhanced Presence screen.

    "In providing an integrated solution with Microsoft OCS 2007, Toshiba is delivering on its promise to expand its Unified Communications offerings by giving customers a choice in how they communicate with their Toshiba Strata CIX VoIP system," he said.

    The Toshiba Strata CIX VoIP system is available through authorized Toshiba dealers.

  • VoxOx Improves VoIP Freeware


    VoxOx is offering new freeware that comes with a Personal Assistant feature that includes call recording, call forwarding, call routing, and call screening.

    The multi-protocol messaging and VoIP communication client also has expanded social-networking features and stronger back-end support.

    The Personal Assistant feature introduced in the new version can also be set to answer all calls, route calls based on caller, as well as more standard uniform call routing.

    It also offers the ability to listen in on voicemails as they’re being recorded and users can set personalized ringback tones.

    With the new version VoxOx is setting out its stall as a one-stop communication hub.

    Instant messaging support has been expanded in the improvements to Facebook IM, MySpace IM, Gadu Gadu, and Skype.

    E-mail address book contacts can now be imported from Google, Hotmail, AOL, Mac, and Outlook address books.

    Both inbound and outbound faxes are included as part of VoxOx’s free feature set.

    The program automatically converts text documents to fax-appropriate signals when you’re sending out. Incoming faxes are received as PDFs.

    The freeware is available for Windows and Mac.

  • WCell Joins Mobile VoIP App Market


    WCell International has announched that its VoIP calling platform is now available for download on a variety of mobile operating systems, including BlackBerry, Java, Windows Mobile and Symbian.

    The Hong Kong-based application for mobile devices is awaiting approval by Apple for listing in the iPhone App Store.

    WCell claims it offers comparable or better voice call quality than its many competitors in the mobile VoIP applications world.

    The company says it does this while also delivering cost savings against market leaders such as Skype.

    It is planning to differentiate itself from the big names such as Skype, fring, Nimbuzz and Truphone by targeting retail handset sales.

    WCell wants to have 10 million paying customers of the service by November this year.

    Ish Paneet Singh, vice president at Wcell International, said that Wcell’s pay-as-you-go rates are at least 60 per cent cheaper than Skype’s.

  • Smartphones for Business User

    The mobile phone market in the UK is unrecognisable now from what it was like two decades ago. The technology included in mobile phones changes frequently and the market has to change accordingly to include the new advances in technology, and to meet the ever-increasing demands of consumers.

    A smartphone is a combination of a mobile phone and personal digital assistant (PDA) that offers advanced features and functions to the user. They are usually aimed at business people who tend to require more advanced features for their phone than a standard mobile offers. The four smartphones explored below include features and functions such as a QWERTY keyboard, WiFi, Bluetooth, Camera, Video Conferencing, GPS, Internet, applications and e-mail.

    One of the best smartphones on the market at the moment has to be the Apple iPhone 3G. Complete with 16GB of usable memory, a sleek design and an excellent interface, the iPhone is an excellent smartphone possessing many features. It sports a two mega pixel camera that can take pictures of a decent quality, 3G to allow for easy access to the Internet, and access to Apple`s fantastic application store. The App store contains excellent applications suitable for all different types of users, particularly business people. The addition of a touch-screen keyboard, GPS through Google maps, and the inclusion of both bluetooth and WiFi, means this is a smartphone possessing all the key features a business user would desire. However, the battery tends to get "zapped" very quickly and usage is restricted to selected phone networks in the UK i.e. O2, which makes the device less appealing but still perfectly adequate for a business user.

    The Palm Treo 800w comes with the addition of WiFi and GPS when compared to previous Treo Smartphones. The design when compared to its competitors is fantastic. It is ideal for business users, but like the iPhone, possesses the problem that the battery can get used up very quickly if the device is used frequently.

    Another leading smartphone is the RIM BlackBerry Curve 8320. This smartphone is only available on the T-Mobile network, but does possess WiFi, fantastic design for a smartphone, and excellent performance.

    The Nokia E71 is another smartphone ideally suited to business users. Including a fully integrated QWERTY keyboard, 3G, Bluetooth, a USB port, a microSD card slot allowing an additional 8GB of memory to be gained, WiFi, radio, GPS, a wide screen, a superior battery life in comparison to the other smartphones reviewed above, and a 3.2 mega-pixel camera, this smartphone does it all and looks fantastic with its ultra-slim stainless steel design. broadband speed test. However, this all comes at a price, with the Nokia E71 costing £30 a month on 18 month contract, or £280 just for the handset on Pay As You Go through O2. However, this would be the ideal smartphone for a business user to own, if of course they can afford it.

     
    Jessica McArdle is Marketing Manager of Top-10 broadband
    Top-10 Broadband is an independent broadband comparison site and essential resource for anyone looking for information about broadband. Whether you are looking to buy a broadband package, find out the latest developments in the broadband industry or understand more about how broadband works and the options available, Top 10 Broadband can help.

  • EMC Completes Acquisition of Data Domain


    EMC Corporation has finally overcome rival NetApp and succeeded with its bid to buy data deduplication leader Data Domain at a price of USD $2.1 billion.

    The acceptance of the final offer comes after a six-week bidding war and will raise questions about whether EMC overpaid for Data Domain – and what NetApp will do now.

    EMC’s final offer of USD $33.50 per share for Data Domain is a lofty figure compared to the $18 its stock was trading for before NetApp’s first bid May 20.

    NetApp went on to offer of USD $25 per share before increasing that to USD $30 after EMC joined the fray.

    While EMC could be accused of overpaying, deduplication is viewed as a growing segment of the storage market and Data Domain offers some very good technology.

    For NetApp there do appear to be other potential acquisition targets to bring it into the data deduplication/backup space, including CommVault, FalconStor, Quantum and Sepaton.

    The challenge facing EMC now is to decide how to bring Data Domain to market.

    With businesses storing 50 per cent more data each year, according to some market research estimates, EMC is betting the acquisition will pay off.

    Joe Tucci, EMC chairman, president and CEO, said: "This is a compelling acquisition from both a strategic and financial standpoint.

    "We look forward to bringing Data Domain together with EMC to form a powerful force in next-generation disk-based backup and archive."